No Razdan, Joseph or Rao. A dark horse from down south has made it to the Election Commission as the next member when Navin Chawla takes over as Chief Election Commissioner from N Gopalswami on April 20.

Sources said that central Power Secretary V S Sampath from the Andhra Pradesh cadre had been appointed as the next Election Commissioner. “The Prime Minister approved his name on Thursday night,” they said.

The appointment comes barely two days after UPA chairperson and AICC president Sonia Gandhi’s political tour to Karimnagar in Andhra fuelled speculation that the rank outsider’s name was suggested by none other than Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

Sampath, a 1973 batch IAS officer, was never in the reckoning with names such as Maharashtra Chief Secretary Johny Joseph, Karnataka Chief Secretary Sudhakar Rao, former Power Secretary Anil Razdan and Law Secretary T K Vishwanathan doing the rounds. Sampath has service tenure until next January when he will turn 60.

With EC tenure until 65 years, he will now take over as CEC after Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi retires in June 2012 and would be the CEC when next general polls are held in due course in 2014.

Sampath was Principal Finance Secretary in the Andhra Pradesh Government before coming to the Centre in December 2004. His first assignment was with the Department of Land Resources in the Ministry of Rural Development. He then moved on as Director General of National Institute of Rural Development, and came back as Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals. After Razdan superannuated last December 31, he was appointed Power Secretary.